He's had three years of being no better than third fiddle on his team. He cannot shoot the ball, so if he somehow becomes the man on izzo's team, I still cannot see him being a top 5 Big Ten player. He might not even be top 10 big ten player by the end of the season.

Getting assist production without proven scorers or seniors in Payne, Harris or Appling will be far more difficult with defenses focusing on denzel. Getting rebound production for dawson will be challenging for similar reasons. The pressure for them to be all around scorers will be high. Izzo's development or lack thereof will be showcased clearly either way.

Quote: "Torbert was arguably the top high school player in the country (he won two such awards) and would have been a top 10-15 pick in the NBA Draft straight out of high school. He chose to go to MSU, and the rest is history. I know there are many basketball fans in Flint that still believe that choosing MSU was the kiss of death for Torbert’s NBA prospects."

Not as whiney as his usual self, Izzo still finds ways to complain about officiating, players (all of sudden Harris is not the best player in the league in his mind so he might need to return next year), twitter, and the wimpification of society as a whole.

Also, I cringe a little at our fan base putting out the expectation of national titles. It's great that we've arrived, but we should win one first before expecting any.

Also, I remember last year MSU coaches and players having press conferences after the season all but guaranteeing a national title with Payne, Harris and Appling returning. Could still happen, I suppose. I hope that Beilein and company never behave like Izzo and company.

Anyway, as Beilein says, "one game at a time" in this B1G league. And then, subs.

He is the person that is extremely annoying. His players are guilty by association.

Today izzo was complaining about society in general because he convinced himself that it is to blame for 4 year players each getting a bad NBA Draft reputation. Never mind the idea of a business wanting as much upside (i.e.a younger player) in regards to investing millions of dollars. Also, college basketball is a big business, as evidenced by izzo salary and benefits.

Dude is crazy about his whining about his job. He's just pissed he has a poor track record developing young talent.

at the IM building when the pick-up bball games were shut down so the MMBB team could have practice.

He was a bit too cool to my friendly hello, as a I recall. Not a big deal whatsoever.

Anyway, he was the most frustrating player to watch, because he'd have so many "soft" performances and then one tough one in a blue moon against a weak team.

My favorite player was Lester Abrams.

I have blocked out all detailed memories of the Ellerbe era, even though I remember watching every single game of the Ellerbe and Amaker eras. I also watched every game of the first 4 years of Beilein, but now I cannot catch every game.

I thank God for the mgoblogger that posts the games these days on youtube for me to catch up on later. Thank you, whoever you are.

Desperate defense is desperate, but it's still defense within the rules (assuming no contact).

MSU will do well this post season. Will they win the BTT, or go to the FF or win the NCAA title? Who knows. I'd rather they not win a championship, but at this point, who should really care?

Yes, Izzo constantly acts like a whiney d-bag (I'm not making excuses, but . . . ). People outside of Michigan's fanbase seem to see at least some of that. OTOH, his team is still in 2nd place and could still win a share of the regular season title this year.

Next year? that msu team looks relatively tenuous, but TBD. All I know is 6 out of (m**f**g) 8. Let's go for 7 out of 9 when that next game arrives.

Michigan isn't going away anytime soon. If not this year, it looks like next year Michigan will send more first round picks to the NBA.

Recruits like Luke Kennard, Jalen Coleman and Jalen Brunson are probably seeing and noticing the tremendous improvements Michigan players and teams make each season.

That's a lot of writing to say something as simple as: Michigan is back under Beilein.

Let's take his lead and be classy, humble and appreciative for each win as they come. One game at a time. It's served us well to not be the entitled pricks that the rcmb fanbase shows itself to be.

I think both schedules shake out evenly the rest of the way. Michigan has the challenging games now, MSU later. The timing favors Michigan after the OSU game on Tuesday. That's why that game is so huge IMO.

Beilein's staff in the most recent episode of Inside Michigan basketball said that the players know they've earned the right to be confident even though they also are taught to respect each and every opponent.

MSU is very good, but Michigan should feel like it can get a win. Michigan has beaten three of the other top four teams in the B1G with two of those wins on the road (at MN and at Wisc).

MSU has only beaten one of the other top four teams (MN) in East Lansing in overtime.

ever so slightly ahead of Michigan and then a toss-up between Wisconsin and MSU. Izzo will have his team dialed in for Michigan, but I don't see us losing our home court to him. We might be able to steal one there. But first things first.